Since the same guys who worked on Van Buren are making this game, I'm wondering if Fallout: New Vegas will actually be Van Buren, and therefore the real Fallout 3.

Highly unlikely. As much as Hindes has said they let Obsidian run with their own ideas, I imagine there are still boundaries. Plus I'm not even sure whether Obsidian themselves would want to do it. Remember that Obsidian isn't Black Isle, it just has some of the people from there. Arguably the most important people from the Fallout team went to Troika.

There's some info on Van Buren's plot on the Wikipedia page. A tech demo was leaked if you want to check it out - you can grab it from NMA. There are also various videos of it on YouTube.

There's also the fact that K1's story and characters sucked out loud, and that TSL's story and characters were of a quality, depth, and dimension rarely seen in the gaming industry, but mostly this.

You've got to be kidding.

The original KotOR story is what made the game. Bioware is famous for the rich content of thier stories joined with the playability of the storytelling.
This combo often brings them awards for brilliant games, millions of game sales and happy fans.

Quality and depth were exactly what TSL was missing when they followed up KotOR. It definately lacked that connection and impact that KotOR had.

However, I did like the upgrades in weapons, sabers and leveling.
The Jedi armor was weak and looked like crap though.

...and Kreia! My God, she was the lamest, cryptic pain in the arse ever.

The original KotOR story is what made the game. Bioware is famous for the rich content of thier stories joined with the playability of the storytelling.

Not really. Take Episode IV's ending, combine it with a foreseeable plot twist, add mainly stereotypical characters, stir and serve chilled, and you have KotOR I. It's not exactly bad, but when RPGs are mainly story-oriented games, you'd better have a pretty decent plot if you want to go anywhere at all.

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Quality and depth were exactly what TSL was missing when they followed up KotOR. It definately lacked that connection and impact that KotOR had.

I can see where you're coming from, but I'd most certainly challenge it. You're forgetting the puzzlebox that is the Influence system, which provides dozens of playthroughs in order to truly understand the characters fully. As for the general incompleteness... truly, I never really felt that way until the third act. Either way, the whole journey was oh-so enjoyable enough to completely ignore the plot holes.

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...and Kreia! My God, she was the lamest, cryptic pain in the arse ever.

That's the whole point. She was a dynamic character, and probably one of the most interesting characters in the SW universe.

The original KotOR story is what made the game. Bioware is famous for the rich content of thier stories joined with the playability of the storytelling.
This combo often brings them awards for brilliant games, millions of game sales and happy fans..

Pastrami basically said everything I could about K1's storyline, but I would like to address the fact that you place importance on how many games are sold and how many fans like it. Popularity =/= quality, in fact, it tends to be the exact opposite, as it is with Halo, Family Guy, anything that Michael Bay has ever directed in the history of ever, and the Twilight novel series, all of which are horrendous displays of entertainment, yet are still popular. So, based on that, I'm inclined to believe that whatever the majority of people like is going to be completely moronic, shallow, and lacking in cerebral provokation.

KotOR1 did Star Wars better than the Prequels did and it was fun, but after two playthroughs (LS & DS) the only reason to replay it is to try out some new mod. I thought that the entire DS endgame rocked, though, and thoroughly beats the tar out of the LS one.

KotOR2 was the anti-Star Wars, a concept that I liked from the start, and it's plot was complex enough to warrant several replays just to catch all of the times that Kreia lies to you. The influence system has already been mentioned and can be played several different ways. And with notable exceptions the mods for TSL are far better and can make the combat a lot more interesting.

"They should rename the team to the Washington Government Sucks. Put Obama on the helmet. Line the entire walls of the stadium with the actual text of the ACA.

Fix their home team score on the board to the debt clock, they can win every game 17,000,000,000,000 to 24. Losing team gets taxed by the IRS 100%, then droned."

Lists some details they found out about the game presumably from the upcoming Game Informer issue. The only thing I want to know from that info is whether all the backgrounds turn into ghouls or if it is just that Chinese Agent background, as I don't find the idea of playing a ghoul very attractive.

Also I can't help but notice that it seems like no matter what Obsidian does, BioWare has already done it. No doubt they will put their own spin on the different background options in the game but it never fails that they have comparable features. I just beat Fallout 3 a week or two ago and enjoyed it very much so I'm still really looking forward to this one.

Also I can't help but notice that it seems like no matter what Obsidian does, BioWare has already done it. No doubt they will put their own spin on the different background options in the game but it never fails that they have comparable features.

So are they actually doing a playable background a la Dragon Age, or is it just a cutscene etc? The vehicle stuff sounds similar to Mass Effect's driving around on random planets in the Mako.

Lists some details they found out about the game presumably from the upcoming Game Informer issue. The only thing I want to know from that info is whether all the backgrounds turn into ghouls or if it is just that Chinese Agent background, as I don't find the idea of playing a ghoul very attractive.

Racist

"Women are like sunsets… they’re beautiful, but there will be a different one tomorrow." - Gilder

Also I can't help but notice that it seems like no matter what Obsidian does, BioWare has already done it. No doubt they will put their own spin on the different background options in the game but it never fails that they have comparable features.

Yes. They're also dandy at taking said features and fashioning them into more improved incarnations with greater potential. Obsidian may not be the more innovative developer, but they can usually take a good concept (in theory) and bring it to its reasonable apex. That's kinda why I wanted them to do ME2, but I suppose we're getting that anyway.

So are they actually doing a playable background a la Dragon Age, or is it just a cutscene etc? The vehicle stuff sounds similar to Mass Effect's driving around on random planets in the Mako.

From reading that article it says it's just like Dragon Age's origin stories.

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Originally Posted by PastramiX

Yes. They're also dandy at taking said features and fashioning them into more improved incarnations with greater potential. Obsidian may not be the more innovative developer, but they can usually take a good concept (in theory) and bring it to its reasonable apex. That's kinda why I wanted them to do ME2, but I suppose we're getting that anyway.

I agree, but I'd still like to see them coming up with their own features. But I guess instead of booing on Obsidian BioWare deserves credit for making new features become popular. And the game will probably be better because of the inclusion of the background stories.

2010 release? Hey that's this year! I'm not up or down on fallout per se, but I'm a long time Bethesda modder, and I like the Gamebryo engine. Love Fallout 3, though, so this should pretty damned good.

As I recall when the deal was first announced it was said it was with the understanding that it would be released within 12 months. Given the age of the announcement that would mean you'd expect to see it around mid-year, but add another 6 months for the inevitable Obsidian delay - so say a Thanksgiving/Xmas release.

Works for me. Its been said on the thread already but this game is a winning combination, so it should rock. Then again, I said the same thing about Lord of the Rings: Conquest, and we all know how that turned out.

What is (behind the pre-rendered eye-candy) in the trailer is the announcement of a release date in "Fall 2010".

The accompanying press-release also lists that the game will be available on... (cont. p.94)

After the cancellation of Obsidian's Aliens RPG, Josh Sawyer was appointed lead designer on Fallout: New Vegas; recent interviews, a-twitterings, etc. from Avellone Trismegistos indicate he is also working on the project to some degree.

Wow, it really looks like it'll be the true Fallout successor... in lore and setting, that is. I'm glad to see that the NCR will be playing a real role, and judging by the scenery, a more (dys)utopian, fascist one. Might I also add that the omni-masked man bears an uncanny appearance to Tycho's description in Fallout 1... which might also hint at other things.

Wow, it really looks like it'll be the true Fallout successor... in lore and setting, that is.

It's amazing how you can draw so much info from a pre-rendered video that shows a few city lights off in the distance. Personally, I'll wait until we have some actual substance on the plot and gameplay before I get too excited.

It's amazing how you can draw so much info from a pre-rendered video that shows a few city lights off in the distance.

Yes. It's being developed by individuals who've been involved with the setting once, twice, even thrice. Yes. Considering that the last iteration of Fallout involved vampires, aliens, druids, and any other B-flick material, I'd hazard a fair guess that F:NV will be more true to the setting.

recent interviews, a-twitterings, etc. from Avellone Trismegistos indicate he is also working on the project to some degree.

I have already offered flowers and sandalwood to my personally created temple dedicated to Him, and have sought blessings and prayer from Shree Avelloneshwar:
the Godwriter, He Who Has Sixteen Hands and a Pen in Each।
the Originator of the Nameless One, the Father of Kreia।
the BioWarantak, the Bringer of Video Game Story Justice।
oh Originalitydaata and the Crafter of Betrayal Masks ।।

Good info there from StuffWeLike. I like what I'm hearing so far and tbh I never finished fallout 1 or 2 though I have them installed on my PC. Fallout 3 was my first encounter with the franchise but I've done a substantial amount of reading at the wiki and in other places since I played the game. I'll be interested to see how this all plays out and hopefully we'll get a good look at the game at E3 this year and the other gaming shows.

"You'll find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view."

Watched my friend's brother play F3 today while skimming through their gaming magazines on the subject and it just gives me Bethesda flashbacks.

It looks... too much like Fallout 3. I know it has its style, but this honestly looks more like another DLC expansion pack instead of a full game. The dead stiff talking, dead and uninviting landscapes, quickly aging graphics, reusing a ton of models it looks like...

I hate Bethesda as a developer. Just throwing that out there. I respect their ability to make a large map to explore, but they are appalling programmers, animators, writers... everything. They are like a jack of all trades of bad with a single shining ace of map building.

I dunno, maybe since Oblivion is doing the writing and, hopefully, fixing the engine it may be more worth an investment than Fallout 3 was but these pics, at least, aren't making me hopeful. Me and my friends spent an hour yesterday just watching his brother utterly break the game engine over and over and over again and he was using the latest patch.

It's set in the same post-apocalyptic universe as Fallout 3.
It uses the same engine as Fallout 3.
It's an all-out spinoff that's meant as a psuedo-sequel to Fallout 3.

Yes yes, it may look like Fallout 3, and it does follow the same core gameplay as Fallout 3, but that doesn't mean that it's going to be constrained by all of the previous title's flaws. If any indication, F:NV will definitely stray away from some of the inadequacies of FO3, and will in many ways recycle concepts found in the first two Fallout games, which is most certainly welcome.

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It looks... too much like Fallout 3. I know it has its style, but this honestly looks more like another DLC expansion pack instead of a full game. The dead stiff talking, dead and uninviting landscapes, quickly aging graphics, reusing a ton of models it looks like...

... it's a spin-off. Bethesda approached Obsidian to essentially create a sequel-of-sorts to Fallout 3, and if by any indication, it's going to receive similar treatment that KotOR 1 and Fallout 1 had: Not a massive overhaul, but a renovation and improvement of previous concepts.

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I hate Bethesda as a developer. Just throwing that out there. I respect their ability to make a large map to explore, but they are appalling programmers, animators, writers... everything. They are like a jack of all trades of bad with a single shining ace of map building.

Yes yes, it may look like Fallout 3, and it does follow the same core gameplay as Fallout 3, but that doesn't mean that it's going to be constrained by all of the previous title's flaws. If any indication, F:NV will definitely stray away from some of the inadequacies of FO3, and will in many ways recycle concepts found in the first two Fallout games, which is most certainly welcome.

I certainly hope so. If I can give it one thing it is at least guaranteed to have better writing, which may justify watching by itself.

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Originally Posted by PastramiX

Agreed, but Bethesda isn't really developing New Vegas, sooo...

True, but it is still their engine and everything else at work under the hood. I'll put some faith in Oblivion to improve the writing and tune up the engine, but even with the latest patch Fallout 3 is still pretty broken. Even the community patches can only seemingly do so much. I know its not their style, but if I had this handed to me I'd almost consider rebuilding the engine from the ground up.

Technically it's not Bethesda's engine - it's a modified version of Gamebryo. It's unreasonable to expect Obsidian to build a new engine for it. In the first place, Bethesda would never allow it, and in the second, they only gave them a year to develop the game.

There's a scan of an OXM preview over at NMA - http://www.nma-fallout.com/forum/alb...hp?pic_id=4026 A warning to you Obsidian fanboys though - prepare to vomit in your mouth a little. Whoever wrote it is obviously a Bethesda fanboy and has seemingly never played any other RPGs (judging by some of the retarded things said). Naturally, there are spoilers about the early part of the game.

Watched my friend's brother play F3 today while skimming through their gaming magazines on the subject and it just gives me Bethesda flashbacks.

It looks... too much like Fallout 3. I know it has its style, but this honestly looks more like another DLC expansion pack instead of a full game. The dead stiff talking, dead and uninviting landscapes, quickly aging graphics, reusing a ton of models it looks like...

I hate Bethesda as a developer. Just throwing that out there. I respect their ability to make a large map to explore, but they are appalling programmers, animators, writers... everything. They are like a jack of all trades of bad with a single shining ace of map building.

I dunno, maybe since Oblivion is doing the writing and, hopefully, fixing the engine it may be more worth an investment than Fallout 3 was but these pics, at least, aren't making me hopeful. Me and my friends spent an hour yesterday just watching his brother utterly break the game engine over and over and over again and he was using the latest patch.

Appalling enough to have two of their games in the top ten on PC Gamer's list of top 100 PC games of all time!

Also, we get that you hate Bethesda, but don't make up things about their games please. Gamebryo is just as solid as the next game engine. I know there are a lot of videos of bugs on YouTube, but in my 30+ hours of playing I never ran into anything game-breaking with the GotY edition (which is just the original game packed with the DLC). It's perfectly fine if you're not looking for ways to glitch it.

Appalling enough to have two of their games in the top ten on PC Gamer's list of top 100 PC games of all time!

I don't judge the quality of a product based on how many awards it gets. Also, that is probably one of the poorest top 100 lists I've had the displeasure of reading.

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Originally Posted by Jeff

Also, we get that you hate Bethesda, but don't make up things about their games please.

So, I'm making things up yet you admit there are plenty, plenty of youtube videos. Lets not forget the pages and pages of issues on forums asking, I dunno, why NPCs disappear out of nowhere, especially plot relevant npcs. How about the plenty of examples of falling through the map, vats crashing the game, the rail way gun crashing the game, ragdolls freaking out and crashing the game/lagging the game, broken quests, room doors breaking and locking you in, freezing, npcs walking through walls and getting stuck, etc.

Appalling enough to have two of their games in the top ten on PC Gamer's list of top 100 PC games of all time!

I love Fallout 3, Oblivion and even Morrowind, but without mods none of these games would make my favorite list. My only hope for Fallout New Vegas after attempting to play Alpha Protocol is Obsidian version of Fallout is just as easy to mod as Bethesda’s Fallout 3.

Now I played the 360 version of FO3 and I didn't run into any gamebreaking glitches that I can recall. I'm guessing many of you are playing the PC version so I can't really compare...but I actually enjoyed Fallout 3 and only recently traded it in after I decided I was finally done with it and I'm looking forward to New Vegas.

"You'll find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view."

F3 was pretty terrible... both story and gameplay wise. This better be much better. If they're gonna fill more than half of the explorable land with mindless AI drones who attack you on sight, I'm not even going to bother (it's like hell for a completionist like myself), good story or no.

Seeing how Obsidian only has one year to develop and release Fallout: New Vegas, I’m actually very optimistic. I use to blame LucasArts for the problems with TSL, but after attempt Alpha Protocol I’m truly thankful that they only had a year to add their signature bugs to the game. At least TSL was playable and enjoyable. Hopefully the short production time is a good sign for Fallout: New Vegas too.

They didn't screw up KotOR; they enhanced it sufficiently, and fixed up all the mistakes that were left by BioWare in KotOR I.

As for Fallout: New Vegas, I'll probably give it a try once it comes out, but my expectations are actually low; not because of Obsidian, but because of the dreaded experience I had with Fallout 3 back in 2008. I actually think it's one of the worst video games of all time, and is a perfect example of what not to do when making a video game.